Re: [XaraXtreme-dev] Xara finally dead?

["Jose Hevia" <jose.francisco.hevia@xxxxxxxxx>]

2007/8/30, Charles Moir <CharlesM@xxxxxxxx>:
> Yes and it's quite attractive to have say a Cairo based FOSS version,
> and a 'premium' versions that's based on CDraw and would thus be faster
> (we now have multi-threaded renderer working so it's even faster on
> multi-core). They'd share most of the common source base, but the
> commercial one would have the closed-source parts, including things such
> as Pantone which we're not able to include in OSS versions.

Hello Charles,

I could speak with experience here as I tried myself to do this Cairo
kernel. Well, I have experience with cairo, gtk, c and c++, but I'm
only a MD student of industrial engineering.

The biggest problem here is not knowing how to program, but to
understand the codebase well, if you are an outsider, you have it very
difficult for holding a program in your head:

http://www.paulgraham.com/head.html

Little things, details, that are obvious for an insider are not so for
an outsider.

This and having to study, work, make the cooking... is not easy. And
you perceive working free for xara. Unconsciously you prefer to work
in your own projects with your little free time(you understand better
than anyone,takes seconds to modify/compile/see changes, it's yours,
and if it works after all you are working for you(if closed) or the
community(if open)).

We face here the Netscape/Firefox dilemma. If people contribute, they
want freedom that could go against the interest of original company
(Xara). Xara cares a lot about giving it away, people don't
contribute. If they want, there is Inkscape completely free (freedom).

> So it's a nice idea, and I'd like to see it happen, but it (well the bit
> about making a Cairo based version) is not really in my control any
> more.

IMHO, to make Xara extreme a reality is under your control. Simple,
inexpensive things means a lot for the people:

- Update the news, be sincere, put the problems this project has got.
People will see the project is not dead. If they see news from the
last year they are gone.

- Look for a solution. So you really want to make this project
possible, and don't want to expend more money, resources on it -> just
calculate developer cost and collect money from the community (paypal
or whatever account), you will have at least 30 eur from me.(I think
if this collection news goes to slashdot or digg you are going to get
it, look at wikipedia or blender examples). Put a bar in the page that
shows the process upon completion.

- Another one, if you don't want to use your own devs, collect money
for the one (or the best solution) that completes the task from
outside, like a Google summer of code. You could divide it in stages,
as little steps has smaller entry barriers.

- Put a deadline. If by X date we don't have this money, we will close it.

As marketing shows, understand the needs and desires of the people you
try to connect with is as important as making a good program.

Now we can see a lot of reasonable frustration by your part, you put a
lot of work, time and resources (give), and expected something
(receive) you didn't get, like an enamoured trying to buy with money
what money can't buy. Please, don't take this personal.

Do this, don't expect anything. Just observe. If it fails, we will
have a dead Xara. There will be someone else who pioneers in the Linux
graphic market.

> Charles